An Upside Down Affair
by Domenic
Summary: This time around, Cordelia's the vampire with the soul, while Angel a.k.a. Liam is, ultimately, her human messenger from the Powers That Be.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Inspired by a challenge I wrote myself, and decided to try.

Summary: Their roles are reversed, and Cordelia's the vampire with the soul, while Angel--better known as Liam--is, ultimately, her human messenger from the Powers That Be, complete with those pesky visions. (AU obviously.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Angel; if I did, his official characterization would've been a little different.

Chapter 1

Liam couldn't figure when he had the time during the whole settling down in L.A., but the man did manage building some sort of relationship with Tina, a waitress from one of the nearby diners that was so-so. She would've been a nice girl of plain vanilla, if not for the trace of loneliness edging her wiry frame. Liam figures that was what drew him to her, some desire to help that had been left over from those damnable Scoobie days. (The 19-year-old also figures his bitterness results from the natural loathing of highschool, and his ex-girlfriend Willow going at it with Harris behind his back.)

Thus, he truly shouldn't have been surprised to find trouble, especially in the form of a vampire. Upon that realization, Liam instinctively planned on stakes, crosses, holy water...then actually used his brain and looked for Cordy. He had just seen her the other day...

_"Cordy!"_

_"Cordelia." She had snapped in reply like normal, as if they were still in Sunnydale and not L.A., at some party Tina had taken him to; the vampire had never liked that nickname, and she never would. Thus, Liam's repeated usage._

_"Really small world, eh?" He had continued, ignoring her correction as usual. There had been a small smile on his face; it wasn't like he and Ms. Schizo had ever been close, he just teased her once in a while. (O.K., more like teased her at least once whenever they got together, usually on another one of those monster-hunts that never seemed to fade away.)_

_"You're not living here, are you?" It's not like Cordelia asked in a normal voice, more like grunted, yet still remained looking as hot as ever, especially when in such a sleek black dress that went nicely with her typical long curls of ebony._

_"Alright, total stab in the dark," began Liam sarcastically. "But you live here too, don't you?"_

_"Fantastic; as if centuries' guilt wasn't enough, I get my own second-rate jester for a neighbor."_

_"Second-rate?" He had only wanted to play a bit, and then she had to fire back with "Yes; Harris is #1."_

_"...That's just low." What else could he have said?_

_"Please! Still steaming after being dumped by something so scrawny and colored an unflattering red, with enough social skills to fill a thimble?"_

_"Still able to pass yourself of as a highschool bitch queen, I see; or maybe I'm wrong...by the looks of things, could this be another plunge into darkness? Have we been feeling a little too happy these days Cordy?" Liam had been certain he had gone even lower than she did, but couldn't find it within himself to care. The vampire's eyes had shadowed then, obviously remembering her covert bitings at parties during her soul's absence._

_"Highschool bitch queen in the driver's seat, buddy; and right now, she wants to be with people someone that isn't such a complete nobody." And with a hiss and a turn of her heel, Cordelia was gone._

Following that mini-fiaso, full-fledged fiascos had cropped up when those gunmen came after Tina, and Liam finally got the name "Russell" out of her, spoken in tones of great fear and in connection to relationship issues; wouldn't say his last name, but mentioned an ex-beau of his that had vanished a while ago. Liam knew a lead when he saw one, and went after it in the local library, already screwing up an oath he had taken; on the Internet, he found Russell's long-lost beau--6 feet under, and sporting dual puncture marks in her neck.

Before he went looking for Cordy's help, the 19-year-old gave Tina edited news. ("That girl you mentioned--she was murdered." Blunt as ever. "This Russell guy goes after girls with no family, no one to care." Painfully blunt. "I know someone who can help, we just have to find her." Hand on the doorknob. "I'd like to stay here." Tina, all meek and scared. "...O.K." Submissive as ever.)

In the end, it was a miracle Liam found Cordelia at all, with no phone number or adress to go on.

"Your place has a real bat-cave vibe, Andrew and Jonathan and Warren would be drooling if they saw this... There wouldn't happen to be a butler, would there?" The look on her face...priceless.

A/N: Up next, ensouled vampire Cordelia's POV.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews so far.

Summary: Their roles are reversed, and Cordelia's the vampire with the soul, while Angel--better known as Liam--is, ultimately, her human messenger from the Powers That Be, complete with those pesky visions. (AU obviously.)

Disclaimer: Angel does not belong to me; if I was the owner, Angel would've been shown to have gotten over Buffy, not seeking her out in "The Girl in Question", or kissing her in that season 7 crossover.

Chapter 2

What was with these men and Batman? That was pretty much the first thought that ran through Cordelia's mind as she recognized the bleak fact of now having to entertain double annoyances, one old (Liam, son of a Wolfram & Hart bastard), one new (Doyle, half-demon who couldn't keep his eyes off her, nor the drool out of his mouth)--both Irish.

The Powers That Be were very bored today.

"Liam, state your business now, then I can refuse you gently."

"Oh, that's great progress toward making a human connection--"

"Doyle!" The 19-year-old turned curiously toward the man Cordy had snapped at, sizing up his scruffy appearance.

"That's my name," he replied gamely, offering his hand to Liam, who shook it in kind. Good first impression, check.

"And I'm...well, you probably already know who I am." The boy's rather sheepish expression made Cordelia boil; and **he** had the gall to call her Ms. Schizo, when he could turn from joking to serious in a split-second, bold cockiness into quiet bashfulness...although, she had to be honest, Liam had always seemed shy more often than outgoing.

"Great, great, everyone knows everyone; now lets get to the damn point." The vampire glared, daring Liam to make his trademark crack about her so-called eternal PMS; apparently, things were serious, as the boy skipped the joke and went straight to the meat. But she just had to stop him at Russell.

"You know him?"

"Yes Liam, I've actually been tracking this guy down with Doyle's help--"

"Oh, so you've been working to take him down already--"

"Uh-huh, she's been doing undercover work, passing herself off as a human he'd like to take in--"

"So **that's** why you were at the party, and not off brooding like you normally would."

"Like I normally would? I'll have you know, I browse the malls quite a lot--"

"Is that what you consider a social life? A bunch of shopping?"

"Hey now, as fun as this Han Solo/Princess Leia banter is, we really should be getting back to the whole Russell thing," the half-demon put in, again earning more respect points from a grudging Cordelia. Liam swiftly finished his explanation, and then they were off--all together, much to Cordy's chagrin. That chagrin soon disappeared into a cool foreboding once they made it to the 19-year-old's rathole of an apartment, finding this Tina nowhere in sight. She was surprised at how calm and clear-headed Liam was as he said, "There's no sign of a struggle; Tina must've gone back to her place." And then they were off again, and just when the vampire was beginning to feel as if she were on some wild goose chase, they stumbled upon the corpse.

The vampire was quiet and stood to the side as Doyle solemnly dialed the mortal authorities; she couldn't take her eyes off Liam as he kneeled by the blonde, stroking the bite marks, then the hair, then finally giving in to the desire to pick her up and straighten her out on the couch. With a doctor's clinical grace, Cordelia diagnosed shock in the boy. When the mortal authorities arrived, it was a worthless blur, the only noticeable things being the corpse's departure, and Liam's hair--it finally registered with the vampire that the 19-year-old's hair had been cut, no longer partly lengthy and unruly like in Sunnydale, but short, and a little spiked by some sort of product.

"What now?" Hissed out Liam, back toward them.

"Russell will probably be looking for another girl after this," the vampire intoned dryly, and she could just feel Doyle's eyes glaring holes into the back of her head.

A deep breath from the boy, then he asked, "Are you sure he'll pick you? What if he's noticed your certain lack of heart beat or breath?"

"Do you actually believe I would bother presenting myself as a human to another vampire if I wasn't confident of success?" She began heading for the door, the half-demon on her heels, while Liam remained very still. "Besides," and with that she tauntingly flipped a rather luxurious wave of her hair, "Who could possibly resist me?"

A/N: Up next...uncertain of whose POV. Maybe Doyle's?


End file.
